Resilient striker plate and coupler carrier



Dec. 14 1926.

. 1,6 l0,540 C. E. WICKERSHAM A RESI LIENT STRIKER PLATE AND COUPLERCARRIER- :Filed August 2. 1924 t Patented Dec. 14, 1926.

CHARLES E. WIlCKERSHAM, OF JOHNSTOWI T, PEIil'NSZLVANIA.

RESILIENT STRIKER- PLATE AND COUPLER CARRIER.

Application filed August 2,

One of the great items of losses in freight car upkeep experienced byrailroad com panics is that due to repairs arising from breaking of thestriker plates commonly used to limit the inward movement of thecoupler. By reason of the constant hammering of the coupling heads theplates are short lived and the plates of each car break repeatedly,which in each instance't-hrows the shock directly on the frame of thecar,

on the coils of the coupler springs, the in ner ends of the bars, thecoupler housing and also the car beams that form the coupler support.Thus the breaking of the strile er plate results in the breaking down ofthe whole of the associated car connecting parts of the freight car.Unless inspection occurspromptly and the car is side-tracked or sent tothe shop for repair the loss and damage that may be done is measuredonly in wrecks and loss of life. Usually it means the reconstruction ofthe ends of the car and. particularly the car parts. The striker platesare so located as to allow a certain amount of resilient play of thecoupler heads, but when the pressure becomes too greatfor the couplersprings, the coupler head strikesthe strikerplate which is de signed totake the shock. The striker plates by reason of this constant hammeringbreak and the shocks are received by the vital parts of the carconstruction. By my invention I have provided a resilient striker platehaving springs so designed that the coupler has the same play as in theordinary car construction, but the plate is held by springs designed towithstand all possible pressure that may occur at this point, that is,so as to have a large safety factor. Moreover, they are'designed tocoact with the springs ofthe coupler to raise within novelty oft .myinvention. In order that a 1924. Serial No. 729,707.

practical application of my invention may be described I have selectedtwo or three forms of the resilient striker plate as scmblics asexamples of structures containing my invention and shall describe themin detail. The said resilient striker plates and the coupler are shownin the drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a resilient striker plate assembly ofone form and of a coupler head. Fig; 2 is atop broken view of a buttermember or part ot'the striker plate assembly. Fig. 3 is a transversesectional and broken view of the resilient striker plate assembly andcoupler. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional and broken View of theresilient striker plate assembly. Fig. 5 is a top view of a resilientstriker plate assembly having a larger number of springs than that shownin Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive. y

In the form of'construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3 ands,theresilient striker plate assembly comprises two telescoping members.One is "a butter member consisting of a shank 6 and a head or strikerplate proper 14: and the other is a supporting member which includes ahousing 7 in which the buffer shank 6 isslidably supported. The buffershank 6 is providedjwith a plurality of. longitudinally extendingpockets 8 which are open at the inner end of the shank and in whichsprings 9 are located. The springs 9 protrude from" the ends of thepockets so as to press against the inner end of the housing7. The p0ck,ets 8 are separated by a relatively thick partition wall 10 having oneor more vertical slots 11 that extend parallel to the sides ot' the walland are elongated lengthwise of the wall, and a bolt 12 is passedthrough thehousing 7 andthrough one of the slots 11 to permit the buffershank 6 to move inward in the housing 7 against the pressure of thesprings 9 within the limitations of the length of the slot 11 in whichthe bolt 12 is located.

The walls of the pockets 8, except for a side formed by the partitioningwall 10, are substantially cylindrical in form and thus retain thesprings 9 in position so that they may function efiiciently toyieldingly resistthe pressure that may be applied to the buffer memberThe chamber of'the housing 7 into which the butter shank 6 ext nds issubstantially rectangular and has a width that is materially than thewidth of the buffer shank. The buffer shank, however, is provided withtwo pairs of vertically spaced laterally extending longitudinal flanges18 that ar formed integral with the walls of the buffer shank 6 and maycontact with the side walls of the housing 7 near the upper and lowerends of said side walls. The laterally extending flanges reduce thesliding friction along the lateral sides of the buflierv shank andprevent freezing when the pressure is at an angle to the axis of theframe of the car as may occur on a curved track. The buffer head orstriker plate proper 1 1 extends across the outer end of the shank 6 andcloses the outer ends of the pockets 8. The plate 14 also extends acrossthe outer edge of the housing 7. Thus the plate 1 1- is reinforced andbacked by not only the walls of the pockets 8. but also the flanges 13with which the plate 14 is formed integral. It the plate 14 should bedepressed suli'iciently, the marginal edge portion thereof will squarelystrike the end edge of the housing 7 The bottom walls of the pockets 8are also provided with a pair of enlarged portions or skid portions 15that form sliding contact surfaces of limited, and yet suiticient area,to give the least frictional resistance to the movement of the buffershank and at the same time have a sufiicient cross-sectional area towithstand the downward slap or hammering that might occur in therelative car movements. The housing between the skid portions 15 israised so that the lower end of the pin 12 will be located above thelower side of the lower chamber wall of the housing and will thus beprotected from the shank of the coupler which is located directly belowthe housing. The upper wall of *the striker plate member has a plainsurface 16 that extends above and somewhat beyond the centers of thepockets which gives a large area toengage the inner upper surface of thehousing 7.

The housing 7 is also provided with depending arms 17 that may bechanneled or ribbed in order to render thearms 17 sufficiently strong.Each arm 17 may also be reinforced by a bracket like web 18 that isformed integral with the housing and the arm 17. A bolt or rod 19extends across the ends of the arms. the ends of the bolts being locatedin vertical slots20. A sleeve or roller 21 is located on the bolt or rod19. A coupler member includes a shank or draw bar 22 which is locatedbetween the arms 17 and rides upon the sleeve or roller 21. The distancebetween the arms 17 is greater than the width of the draw bar 22 lateralmovement of the coupler and the in and out movement caused by the changein the draft on the coupler pro "laces some wear on the under side ofthe coupler draw-bar. This wear can be readily taken up by shims thatare located in sockets formed in the ends of the arms 17 so as to raisethe sleeve 21 and rod 19 a short distance to correct the wear that mayoccur in the coupler The sleeve 21 being rotatable on the bar 19experiences but very little wear, and such wear may also be corrected bythe shims 23; Also the bar 19 and the sleeve 21 may be easily replacedif desired.

The matter of connecting the resilient striker plate with the car willvary according to the construction and arrangement of the end sills andthe draft sills of the car. In the form of construction shown, thehousing is located below the end sill 24,- and between the draft sills25. The particular draft sills shown are made in the form of Z-barshaving the flanges 26 and 27. The flanges 27 are located on the top ofthe housing 7 and the housing is riveted by the rivets 28 that extendthrough the wall of the housing and the draft sills at different points,as shown. The flanges 13 also provide spaces between the buffer shank (3and the wall of the housing 7 for the heads of the rivets that may belocated in the chamber of the housing in which the buffer shank 6 islocated and so that the movement of the buffer shank 6 will not beinterfered with by the rivets.

In the form of construction shown in Fig. 5 the buffer shaft 30 isprovided with three pockets in which the springs 31 are located. Thehousing 32 in Which the buffer shank 3O telescopes is provided on itsinner end wall .with suitable projecting lugs or cylindrical flanges 32for maintaining the springs 31 in position. The housing is provided withslots 34; in which the bolts are located and which extend throughvertical openings formed in the buffer shank 30. The bolts 35 thus movewith the buffer member. The housing 32 is backed by the end sill 2 1 inthe particular construction shown. This, however, as stated before, maybe varied according to the construction of the car, particularly, in thevicinity of the coupler.

Thus the resilient striker plate assembly supports the coupler injuxtaposed relation therewith and so that the coupling head 36 willstrike the center portion of the striker plate 1 1 and force the strikerplate member against the compression springs 9 in the formshown in Figs.1 to 1 and 31 in the form shown in Fig. 5. Thesesprings will then coactwith the coupling spring to resist further inward movements of thebuffer member and the draw bar 22. The position of the striker plate 1 1or of the striker plate 30 is such as to allow a certain amount of to,the springs of the resilient striker plate assembly being designed tocompletely overcome the extreme pressures, with a proper margin ofsafety, that may occur atthis point and within the limitations ofmovements of the end of the coupler to properly protect the draw barspring and prevent impact of the end of the coupler directly orindirectly against the supporting structure of the car.

I claim:

In a buffer attachment for railway cars, a housing attachable tothe'underframe of a railway car at an end of the latter, said housinghaving a chamber open at the outer end of said housing, a bufier havinga shank extending slidably into said chamber of the housing and having aplate-like head at the outer end of the shank, spring means between saidshank and the inner end wall of said chamber of the housing, a pair oftransversely spaced integral arms depending from said housing, the lowerend portions of said arms having alined vertical slots, a rod having itsend portions adjustably supported in said slots, said rod being capableof bodily movement in a vertical plane for the full height of said slotsand a roller on said rod between said arms for supporting the draw barof the draft gear of the railway car so that a given inward movement ofthe coupler head at the outer end of the draw bar will cause a portionof said coupler head to strike said buii'er head. 7

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to thisspecification.

CHARLES E. WICKERSHAM.

